Trump attacks Rep Thomas Massie at GOP retreat, calls his opposition a ‘sickness’
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump sharpened his public feud with Rep Thomas Massie (R-KY) on Tuesday, January 6, telling a closed-door gathering of House Republicans that “there’s something wrong” with the Kentucky lawmaker and branding his chronic opposition to GOP priorities as a “sickness.”
Speaking at the GOP retreat in Washington, Trump singled out Massie as a serial holdout who has repeatedly undercut the party’s agenda, escalating a feud that has steadily worsened as the libertarian-leaning congressman continues to defy party leadership on major votes.
Trump says Massie 'never votes for us, no matter how good the bill is'
Trump openly vented his frustration with Massie’s voting record, accusing him of reflexively opposing legislation regardless of its substance or national benefit.
“He’s so bad. He never votes for us. No matter how good, he won’t vote for us,” Trump told the room. “There’s a sickness there. There’s something wrong.”
The President said Massie’s opposition has become so predictable that the White House no longer even attempts to court his support during critical negotiations.
“You can have the greatest bill - not for Republicans, for the country - great, great, great for the country. ‘I’m a no vote,’” Trump said. “We don’t even bother calling him at three in the morning, do we?”
Trump says even the Speaker has given up on Massie
While blasting Massie, Trump took care to defend House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), praising him as “tough as anybody in the room” while acknowledging the brutal math of governing with a razor-thin majority.
“You can’t be tough when you’ve got a majority of three and now, sadly, a little bit less than that,” Trump said, drawing nods from lawmakers familiar with the Speaker’s predicament.
Trump then suggested that Massie has exhausted whatever goodwill remained within leadership circles. “I would say there’s one person he’s given up on,” Trump said of Johnson. “He just gave up on this guy.”
Breaking ranks on Venezuela as Republicans rallied behind Trump
The clash has been fueled in part by Massie’s dissent on one of Trump’s most consequential foreign policy moves. Weeks before US forces moved to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Massie publicly criticized the administration’s posture, accusing Trump of pursuing “oil and regime change.”
That stance sharply contrasted with the rest of the Republican conference, which largely closed ranks behind the President’s decision to authorize the operation. Massie’s comments placed him on the opposite side of an action Trump has framed as a decisive blow against narco-trafficking and authoritarianism.
Epstein transparency push deepens the rift with the White House
Massie has further aggravated tensions by teaming up with Rep Ro Khanna (D-CA) to demand the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, a rare bipartisan alliance that has complicated the administration’s messaging.
Trump has repeatedly bristled at the move, viewing it as a public rebuke from within his own party. The dispute spilled into the open on Christmas, when Trump called out Massie by name on Truth Social - a warning shot that Tuesday’s remarks made unmistakably clear.
